It's important to remember that good field care begins before one even cuts into the hide. All aspects of the work that a hunter does are intended to maximize the quality of the meat that he or she will have to take home, as well as to protect one's own personal safety as well as the welfare of the animal that was harvested, and ensure that it can be legally transported. A clean and deliberate processing of an animal is far more valuable than simply rushing through the work in order to get done as quickly as possible. Confirm the harvest before beginning work
Wait a suitable length of time for the animal to die and ensure it has died smoothly and is safe to approach. Ideally, the retrieval of a wounded animal will have been assigned to the guide. A wound must be treated with the utmost respect and the best method of retrieval of a mortally wounded animal as dictated by your guide or local regulations and established practices of your culture and/or country, followed.
Responsible hunting is about humane harvesting and attempts to recover all parts of the animal. Avoid unnecessary disturbance of the surroundings, and treat the carcass with due respect. In a guided hunt, your Guide will direct the approach to an animal that has been shot, confirm whether it is in fact dead or not, and assign tasks accordingly. Be especially aware of these aspects on very steep terrain, in very poor light, or where other hunters are also active.
Before you cut the animal check the tags for any species specific requirements, check local salvage laws and any special instructions that your guide or hunt has. Laws change frequently so make sure you have the latest version of the official hunting guidance for your location and ask your guide to explain any points that are unclear to you. Keep the first cut clean and controlled
Start with a sharp knife and cut from a stable position. Gloves for the field dressing should be of suitable material and be brought in spare's in case they get dirty. Try to keep the knife hand away from the body and try to cut away from hands, legs and other people.
As was stated above, the task of field dressing the animal to remove as much internal flesh and organs as possible in order to cool the meat down is also a task best completed with the utmost degree of cleanliness in order to prevent any contamination of the exterior of the cooled meat. This means that one must avoid cutting into the animal's stomach, intestines, bladder, etc. Should any of these organs happen to spill their contents upon the meat, one must immediately act to prevent the exterior of the meat from coming into contact with any of the spilled organs. Clean the area with clean water if necessary and then allow the area to dry before continuing to clean the remainder of the animal.
Make sure to keep hide, hair, dirt, and the exterior of the carcass away from the meat. Clean knives should be placed on a clean surface, not on leaves or in mud. Used gloves should be taken off and put in a trash can, and clean tools should be kept separate from soiled ones. It doesn't take much to ruin all of your hard work and harbor potential for disease and pests in the meat. Cool the carcass before heat becomes a problem
Carcasses, especially with large amount of internal organs, have a lot of heat to release. Open up the body cavity, remove organs in a clean manner, and lay the carcass out so that air can reach all surfaces. If possible, use the carcass to make a shade and get a cool breeze across it. Do not put warm meat in an airtight bag or cool pack.
While body positioning for wound tracking may necessitate division of a large animal for effective cooling, it is not necessarily best to halve the animal at the mid-line for cooling purposes. All sections need to be able to have airflow to the exposed meat surfaces and options need to be considered on the species, temperature, distance to be transported, terrain and available equipment.
Different weather conditions have to be taken into account when handling game shot. In warm weather it has to be cooled as quickly as possible to prevent the animal's dark meat from decomposing and, in the worst case, becoming inedible. In cold weather, the greatest danger is contamination or excessive exposure to the elements. While it is possible to store the meat in freezing conditions, it must be handled with care in order to avoid it becoming hard and inedible due to repeated thawing and freezing.
Remember when in doubt choose the safer path: improve airflow, shorten the carry, get help from the guide, or head in for prompt processing of the meat. Smell does not have to mean spoilage but until proven otherwise it is best to assume the worst. Quartering and packing out without contaminating the meat
This step of preparing the harvested game for transporting home can result in a lot of exposed surfaces that can become contaminated by insects, dirt, and other debris. In order to best protect the edible portions of the animal, they should be placed in breathable game bags, or bone-in quarters, within the cooler portion of the pack. This type of packing will help to keep the internal temperature of the meat down and aid in preserving it for a longer period of time.
Labeling and organizing the pieces of meat from your harvest as they are transported to your camp or processing facility can go a long way to preventing confusion. It is also wise to keep the portions of the animal that you will be eating separate from the organs, hide and any other gear that may have come into contact with dirt or filth. Divide the load into manageable, stable sections when traversing steep terrain to prevent the burden from falling and damaging the contents.
In any situation, if you have to pack out harvested game, consider the safety of all in your party in regards to where you will be going in order to complete the task. Let others know where you are at if you get separated from the rest of your party. Travel the same route that your guide directed you to take and unload in the same manner that you loaded up. They know where to park your vehicles for access to your quarry as well as locations to set up camp to sit down to your freshly harvested game. Transport, storage, and the food-safety call
Keep the packaged and transported dressed game meat clean. Do not allow exposed quarters of the dressed game animal to lie on the floor of a vehicle. Avoid placing the dressed game on a muddy tailgate or surface that has come into contact with game, fuel, tools or garbage. Pack game meat in clean containers or place them in clean bags or tarpaulins that do not trap heat. If ice is used for cooling, prevent melt water from soaking into the meat. Drain or change wet covers to prevent dripping of water onto the meat.
When at a subsequent processing location, thoroughly inspect every piece of meat, including for hair, dirt, bruising, etc. Trim as necessary, and discard portions containing digestive tract material. Do not mix potentially contaminated pieces of meat with sound pieces. Keep in mind that even though a carcass has been shot many hours prior, it can begin to develop off odors, become tacky to the touch and even begin to spoil. Hesitate to even taste a harvested animal, to render into lard or grease, or to serve it to friends and family, even after having been stored in cool temperatures for long periods of time. Seek advice from someone experienced in humane harvesting and in the processing of game meats – a qualified meat processor or even a food-safety expert – before determining whether or not to consume dubious meat.
Raw game must be stored away from ready-to-eat food and all equipment, hands and surfaces must be cleaned after processing and reference should be made to the most up-to-date food-safety information in order to ascertain the correct methods of storage, preparation and disposal in all instances.
A clean recovery means much more than full quarters. Recovery must be done humanely, with clean meat, safe return of all party members, and all the rules adhered to. The confirmed, clean, cooled and safely carried meat is the goal. If conditions deviate from the developed recovery plan then seek advice from others experienced with recovery in said conditions.
